Provide your input on the reworked draft of the Sphere Handbook

Liz Arnanz 17 October 2017

Following the wide engagement on the first draft of the new revised Sphere standards, the second draft is now now open for comments and suggestions from practitioners around the world. PHAP is supporting the process again through organizing the online consultations and analyzing the results.

The first phase of the revision process was the most inclusive in Sphere’s history – over 2,500 comments were submitted and more than 1,200 participants took part in consultation events across 40 countries. Over the summer, the chapter authors have reviewed the texts and integrated the rich feedback and recommendations into the first draft.

Highlights of Draft 2 include:

A revised What is Sphere introduction to using the standards in practice;

A new Delivering Through Markets annex covering Supply Chain Management and Cash-Based Assistance;

Strengthened inter-chapter linkages and more robust integration of cross-cutting themes;

A redesigned Shelter and Settlement chapter;

New WASH standards on linkages to health for disease outbreaks and nutrition interventions;

A full review of the Protection Principles;

Newly drafted chapter introductions and appendices.

The new draft of the Sphere Handbook 2018 is now available for you to download and review. We look forward to your help to refine the text: download the draft and submit your comments by using one of the three means available below. Help us shape the future Sphere standards now!

The Sphere Handbook, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response, is one of the most widely-used references in the humanitarian sector. Since its first full edition was published in 2000, the process of development and consensus building has always been as important as the product and handbook itself. The document sets out minimum standards which cover life-saving areas of humanitarian response, as well as the common principles, legal and ethical considerations, and core responsibilities on which they are grounded.

Following two revisions in 2004 and 2011, these standards are being updated again to reflect the evolving needs of people affected by crisis. A new version of the Handbook will be published in 2018 following comprehensive research and consultations in which Sphere is partnering with PHAP to help strengthen the revision process through targeted surveys.